This invention provides a new and improved means of securing toilet lids in order to make it very difficult, if not impossible, for toddlers, young children, and pets, to gain ready entry to toilets and the unsanitary water usually contained therein.
Tragically a number of small children topple into toilets and either drown or incur brain damage each year. Few of these tragedies are reported in the news media as parents are naturally hesitant to admit that their child drowned or was brain damaged in a commode bowl.
It is difficult for a child to understand that it is okay to play in the water contained in a bathtub and yet it is not okay to play in, or drink, the water contained in a toilet bowl. Water is water to a small child.
In addition to the obvious safety considerations, toys and other items are often flushed down the toilet thereby clogging the sewer line and causing expensive repair bills.
Many people also keep medium to large size dogs and other pets in their homes for protection and companionship. Quite often these pets soon learn that the toilet bowl provides a ready source of drinking water. Even if the lid is in a down position many pets are able to raise the lid in order to drink the water.
The need for a locking device that toddlers and pets cannot operate is therefore obvious. Such a device should also be easy for older children and adults to operate.
The prior state of the art demonstrates a number of devices designed for this purpose. All seem to contain one or more features which have prevented general acceptance or wide spread use. Some are complex and expensive to produce. Others are installed in locations on the toilet bowl or lid which are inconvenient to reach, difficult to install, and hard to keep clean. Some are unsightly or could cause injury if sat upon. An acceptable device must be simple to install and easy to remove when no longer needed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,024,472 discloses a lock for toilet seat covers which would appear to do a good job of securing a toilet lid in place. It could apparently cause injury to anyone who accidentally sat upon it.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,070 discloses a toilet lid lock which would seem both simple and inexpensive. It is somewhat unsightly and would require one to virtually get on their knees to unlock or lock the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,784 discloses a toilet seat and lid safety lock requiring that holes be drilled in the toilet lid to secure the device in place. It provides no means to adjust the fit of the interface hinge to lids of various thickness. It does have a spring assisted relock feature which is desirable, but not as effective and maintenance free as a gravity relock or reset, as will be later referred to in this application.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,273 discloses a toilet seat cover locking device which is simple and likely inexpensive to manufacture. The toilet lid must be removed to permit mounting and the lever arm does not appear long enough for adequate locking.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,130 discloses a toilet seat cover safety latch which is complicated, has tension springs that require adjustment. The toilet seat and lid must also be removed to allow mounting the device. It is not protected from splatter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,358 discloses an apparatus for securing a pivoted member such as a toilet seat lid. This apparatus could cause injury to anyone who might sit down upon it with the lid in a closed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,447 discloses a toilet seat lock which is somewhat complicated and requires that holes be drilled in both the toilet seat and lid to facilitate mounting the device. It is not protected from splatter when the toilet is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,724,551 discloses a toilet seat lid lock that seems fairly simple but has a drawback in that holes must be drilled into the lid for mounting the device, and further each side must be locked or unlocked independent of the other. It offers no splatter protection.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,472 discloses a toilet seat latch of two embodiments. One embodiment attaches to the water circulation rim of the toilet bowl and would be difficult to keep clean, and is likely to snag on clothing when in the unlocked position. The second embodiment requires removal of the toilet seat and lid to allow the use of the same two holes in the toilet bowl rim for mounting this device. "In both embodiments, when the latch bar is lowered, it automatically relocks under the influence of gravity." Automatic relock is a desirable feature, but I would challenge its being "automatic" when the latch bar part of the device must first be lowered to permit "automatic relock under the influence of gravity." The significance of the above statement will become apparent in the claims of this application.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,363 discloses a toilet locking apparatus with an attachment to the front rim of the toilet bowl which could cause injury to a male if he did not sit down very carefully.
That others had devised inventions to latch or lock toilet seat lids in place was unknown to the inventor at the time of this invention.